The Alphas Mate
by baby-kitsune9
Summary: Alpha, subspecies of human, Rick/OC story. Rick presented as an Alpha as a teenager, and inherited not only the title but everything that goes with it. including a need for a mate and pups. I have no better summary. Rated M. R&R. and enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

**Alpha Rick/OC story. Just this one. I'm still working out the kinks on the other.**

 **Rick presented as an Alpha when he was a teen, inheriting the title of an Alpha and all of the problems that come with it. One of which was the serious lack of females in which to settle down and mate and have pups with.**

 **After a few issues arose, he went and paid a few visits to a very questionable sperm bank, hoping against hope that a female would choose him as the sire of her pups and signing some papers stating that he would not only like to be notified once pregnancy has been verified, but stating that he wanted any and all info on the mother of his pups.**

 **Years have passed and he's in his thirties, working as a local cop for his community when he gets the notification. Not only has the female's pregnancy been verified, but she was also a _normal_ human. **

**Knowing that it's incredibly rare for Alpha offspring to not kill their mothers even under the most normal of circumstances, Rick decides that it would be in everyone's best interest if he were to bring the mother of his pups into his home, and into his care.**

 _ **Forever.**_

* * *

Savannah, Georgia-

He walked into the little corner café that he had started visiting everyday for the last two in a half weeks he had taken off of work to take care of a personal issue. He usually came in half an hour early, a round seven, fifteen am. And quickly and quietly moved up to the counter to order himself a nice couple of lemon poppy seed muffins, and some coffee with a side of whole milk to help wash his breakfast down.

And upon getting his order, left a crisp ten dollar bill lying on the counter for the kid behind the register as he picked up his stuff and silently moved to his usual booth in the far corner facing the door.

And then sat down and slowly took his time fixing his coffee just the way that he liked it as he waited for the eight am breakfast rush with a small rush of excitement that even the prospect of seeing the _normal human_ up close and personal didn't seem able to dim in the least.

No, if anything he was looking forward to seeing her up close again when she finally came in for her early morning shift at eight since that was when _she_ always seemed to come into work at the café.

She was the reason he had left his home in Atlanta, Georgia for the past two in a half weeks and was spending them in his current location in Savannah, _stalking_ her.

Her name was Sara Circe, she was a local collage freshman who was born into old money but preferred to work her way through school at a nice respectable job. Which was good since he would have absolutely hated dragging her out of a strip club in nothing but a string bikini, by her hair.

He'd had the chance to see her several times over the past two in a half weeks since arriving in Savannah, and had to say that he was more than passingly pleased by Sara's appearance (though he'd had to pick his jaw up off of the ground the first time he'd saw her in person, if only to hide his fangs) as well as her personality.

Those that she worked with called her by the nickname Venus. And the first time he had set his eyes on her, he understood why. The woman was the personification of beauty.

A statue of an ancient goddess given living, flesh and blood form.

His Sara was a tall-ish, and leggy- he liked that, just seeing her long slender legs made him want to purr and rub himself suggestively against her delightfully, beautiful body- woman with soft creamy skin, collar bone length strawberry blond hair that almost took on a pink-ish blond hue in certain light, that she kept up off of her nape in a classy twist style held in place by a black hair clip. She had long bangs that sometimes hung down in her eyes- which were a wide pretty turquoise color rimmed by short dark lashes. But his favorite feature had to be her plump pale rose colored lips that were just begging to be kissed until they were swollen and bruised.

Smart, funny, beautiful- and as of almost a month in a half ago- she had also become the absolute center of his universe despite the fact that she didn't know it. It didn't matter any to him in the least.

She carried a part of him within her. He could smell it and her naturally sweet floral scent before she even entered the café. Hell, he could probably track her from the smell of that small part of him that rested under her breasts, but he didn't want to cause her to panic or feel afraid.

The Alpha nature in him wouldn't like it if she feared him. Especially since it was getting close to time to finally make his move and take her back home with him.

Was he aware that he would be technically kidnapping her? Yes, yes he knew. As a law man in Atlanta as well as an Alpha he knew very well what was acceptable and what wasn't in society. It didn't matter if he was in the community or here among the human's.

He knew enough about the law to know that taking Sara would be considered wrong. However, he wasn't a wholly human. Not in the conventional sense at least, and as such, he could bend certain laws and rules and apply them to the situation and get away with it.

Especially once he had her back in Atlanta. Atlanta was the designated community of the Alpha's, and as such, once he had Sara over the state line- none could touch them unless it was one of his own. This gave him a measure of assurance and protection from retaliation from the human law enforcers while securing the mother of his pup.

He figured that he would have to grab her after work either today or tomorrow, perhaps while she was at home trying to rest after her shift- He already knew where she lived, he'd been following her at a discreet distance to her home, off and on to make sure that she made it there okay.

And some days when she was at work, he'd go to her place and simply let himself in and explore her home to get a good grasp of the things that she liked to be surrounded with.

The first time he'd done it, he'd taken notice of many things. How nicely kept and cozy her home was, the potted plants on the window sill. The color scheme (cream and pale aqua). The kinds of stuff she liked to read.

That she seemed to like nature paintings. She had some floral watercolors and oil paintings that were beyond stunning to look at. She also had a few mountain paintings as well which had made him smile a little bit before he had moved on to check out the rest of her home.

And before he had left, he had gone through _everything_ but her panty drawer.

Her sock drawer he had absolutely no problem with checking out- and even though he was allowing his Alpha instinct to run amok here- he refused to disrespect the mother of his pup in such a way that he would go through her panty drawer like a sleazy pervert.

The female deserved better from him, and he intended to see that she had it.

Still the entire reason for going to her home and looking around in the first place was to gather information on what she liked and what she didn't like. Everything from the pictures on her walls, her clothing, her favored shoes, even the stuff that she liked to eat and drink- had been taken note of for when he was ready to take her home with him.

Another thing that he had thought about was whether or not she should have any contact with her family once he took her. And this particular choice had really been eating him up inside. Mainly because humans didn't have a concept of pack like Alphas did.

Instead they simply had very close blood kin and some friends that were basically like family. He understood this. Truly he did. And while he didn't want her family to be cut off from her in any capacity, he was reluctant to let her have immediate contact with them via e-mail, phone calls and such.

The reason for this was because he had done some research on them, and while the mother had come up as a decent female to be around- Sara's father and older brothers were the equivalent of ferals in his mind. They were absolutely insane.

And the reason that he had thought this was because the two business men had been trying to force her- yes that was exactly what he meant, and the mere thought of it still angered him- to abort his pup and marry/mate someone that she obviously disliked greatly.

There had a been a newspaper article a week back written by Sara's mother about her husband and son's unscrupulous methods in gaining new clients and how they were 'attempting to pimp out Sara for their immediate benefit'. The woman's letter to the local press had even included details on how they were attempting to force her to abort her child by drugging her and driving her to the nearest clinic well over a hundred and some odd miles away to get the baby removed while she was still unconscious.

However she also stated in her letter to the press that her poor daughter had awoken, to find herself in a strange place, wearing a paper gown and in stirrups, horrified. And before the precidure could be done and had had to run away from her own father and brother to save her baby.

She went on to say that her husband and son were both disgraces to the family and she hoped that they both died of a stroke when Sara finally settled down with a nice young man of her choice.

Rick had automatically liked the woman for writing that despite the fact that no police had reacted to the information and the two bastards were still running free and harassing his Sara daily now. And Sara's mother had been at the top of his 'you're my new friend' list ever since.

While her husband and son were now at the top of his 'buddy I have fangs and I will fuck you up' shit list.

But that was okay, they could keep being asses a little bit longer and then Sara would no longer be within their reach. He was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he almost missed Sara's scent washing over the café, mingling with the scents of coffee, milk, muffins and just about everything else behind the counter that he couldn't quite think of at the moment.

His eyes cut across the room to the woman's figure as she walked in, and blinked at what she was wearing. He'd never seen her wearing a vivid red mid length clubbing outfit before. Mainly because she generally didn't have such gaudy things among her stuff at home. Not only that, but her makeup and her hair style was all wrong.

She looked like a whore...

"Sara- Holy shit what the hell happened to you?" One of the girls behind the counter asked as she took in the exhausted mother to be's state of dress with a curious glance.

"I'll give you one guess."

"Those bastards," The other girl practically snarled as she came around the counter and took hold of Sara's arm and slowly led her over to a table and let her sit down before she joined her. "What the hell did they do this time?" She asked, as Rick leaned up a little bit in his seat and waited for Sara to talk.

She was attempting to rub off the makeup, which wound up only smudging it in some places before she said. "Dumb jerks still can't take no for an answer, so they set up a 'date' at a local hotel after they grabbed me yesterday while I was on my way home. I don't know if they chloroformed me or something, but the next thing I knew- I woke up in the fucking hotel room, on the bed- dressed up in this ridiculous getup," She motioned with her hand to her outfit and hair and makeup before going on to say, "Nathan was in the room. Standing over me with his dick out, he'd apparently been shooting up while I was out of it and decided to get the party started."

Her co-worker's jaw dropped at the implication of what had happened to the young woman before Sara said, "So I kicked him in the dick, smashed a lamp over his head and then tied him up with the chord and left. I went straight to the hospital and had a kit done and had the baby checked. Nathan never got that far, thank god. But before coming here I did file charges against my dad, brother and Nathan. All of them were arrested about twenty minutes ago."

By this time, Rick was dangerously close to going up to Sara and asking what station the three were being held in so that he could _unalive_ them but managed to hold himself back because he was fairly certain that Sara wouldn't trust anyone who coldly picked more than one person apart with their bare hands and left them as bloody smears on the walls.

Instead he settled himself back and continued to listen while planning out how he would take her.

He could try grabbing her after work, late at night when she was exhausted and in a weakened and vulnerable state. God knew that it may actually make things a little bit easier if he could catch her while she was in a deep sleep and merely collect her, some of her things, and walk out and put them in his car and drive off.

If he did take her late at night, he'd have to be careful not to rouse her since any noise that she could make would draw unwanted attention that he couldn't afford if he was going to take her with him.

Sara's co-worker sighed and asked her if she was up to working, nearly causing Rick to snarl. Sara should be at home sleeping or something after the traumatic night that she'd had. She was in no way whatsoever fit to work today. Or at least that was his opinion, but it didn't seem to be Sara's opinion.

Her opinion was that if her friend could give her about half an hour to get home, clean up and change, then she'd be back for her shift and would even stay an extra half hour to make up for the time lost.

Her friend waved the words away and told her gently but firmly to take the day off. She was sure that the manager would understand and be able to reschedule her work hours starting tomorrow. Besides, she commented, Sara looked to her as if she needed the down time in a bad way.

Rick couldn't help but agree with her there. His poor female definitely looked like she could sleep for a month or so. Which may have been part of why he was so surprised at first that she caved in so easily and agreed to take the day off. However her friend refused to let her walk out of the café without a couple of her favorite flavored muffins, a couple of yogurts with fruit pieces in it, some chai tea to help her stay awake on the trek home and a offered ride home since her feet had to be killing her in the ridiculous hooker heels that she was wearing.

Sara gave her friend a grateful look as Rick slowly got up out of his booth seat and with his coffee in hand, walked out of the café to finalize his plans.

Sara couldn't take much more of the stress that her family was causing, and with that firmly in mind, he walked down the street leading to his hotel thinking of everything that would be needed for what was to come. He didn't like the idea of maybe having to drug her. Especially given all of the crap that her dad and brother had pulled on her, but it also may give him some more time to get home if he did.

All he'd have to give her is a small sedative, and she'd probably sleep the entire trip. Which would be fine since he wouldn't need to stop for food or anything. He didn't care overly much for his comfort, but he was a mite concerned about hers.

Which was why he wanted this trip over and done with _quickly_.

Coming to a stop just down the street from the café, he slipped his cell out of his pocket and dialed his adopted brother's number and waited for him to pick up as he watched the red car of Sara's co-worker start passed him and eyed the slightly slumped over figure of his female, resting her head against the glass of the window as the vehicle passed.

 _"Rick?"_

"Hey Shane, I'm going to get Sara tonight and start for home. Can you see if Lori can collect some things from the local stores. I can wire you the money for it all, but Sara is going to need some things that are a tad bit familiar to her to-"

 _"Calm down man, you're talking a mile a minute. I'll ask Lori to grab what you need_ , _I just need a list."_ Shane said from the other end of the line as Rick began to rattle off what was needed. Twenty minutes later, he said goodbye to his pack mate, after telling him to inform the rest of the pack that he'd be home soon and then flipped his phone closed and then went to find the nearest place to wire money to his friend's mate.

He just hoped that Sara appreciated the lengths that he was willing to go to to see to her comfort.


	2. Chapter 2

The moment that Sara was inside the door and waved her friend off, she knew that something was up. Now don't get her wrong, she wasn't paranoid. Nor did she have any idea of what had given her the idea of what was up. No consciously anyways.

Subconsciously however- that was a different story.

Setting her tea and food down on her kitchen counter, she narrowed her turquoise colored eyes a little bit and scanned the living room just off of her kitchen and almost immediately spotted what it was that was bothering her.

Her paintings...they had been straightened on the tacks where they hung. Each one carefully balanced so that they weren't leaning off to one side or another anymore. Curious to see them up close just to make sure, she slipped the damned heels off of her feet and tossed them in the trash where they belonged. Where she would toss the stupid slutty dress that she had been stuffed into while she had been unconscious.

Unzipping herself as she walked over to the nearest picture, she ignored the discomfort in her toes, heels, ankles and calves and paused right in front of the watercolor painting of the red tulips and lavender and reached out for the nearest light switch and flicked it on.

Sure enough, the picture had been tampered with. Which sort of begged the question, What else of hers had been touched? She wondered as she chewed on her bottom lips nervously and began the slow but thorough sweep of her home. Making sure to check everything form her medicine cabinet in the bathroom, to the jewelry box where she kept some of her less expensive stuff with the exception of her great, great grandma's pearl necklace and matching earrings.

She checked her clothing, her shoes, her old nick-knacks, her collectable dishware, and even her fridge and cabinets. And so far the only thing that hadn't been touched was her panty drawer.

Which had started her weird little mental tirade that fell along the lines of, 'What sort of weirdo breaks into a single woman's home, goes through everything- yet leaves her panties alone?' I mean seriously, why was everything else worth touching but her panties weren't? Did no one appreciate Victoria Secret anymore? She seriously had close to a three hundred dollars worth of sheer, lacy panty and bra combo's.

Really nice ones too.

Then again, maybe the weirdo was gay? It was either that or he jacked off in her drawer without touching anything. She would have to toss everything in her washer later and clean them just to be safe. But right now, she just wanted to eat a little something, wash her face, and then crawl into bed and sleep a while.

Walking back towards her kitchen, she stripped off the gaudy dress and finally tossed it into the trash can too. Leaving her in nothing but the panty and bra set that she had worn yesterday.

She hadn't been sure if it had been changed or not and had been a little bit worried to bother looking, which was why she was so relieved that her dad and brother hadn't crossed _that_ particular line. Still what they had done to her was beyond creepy and sadistic and cruel, and she was glad that their sorry asses were in jail right now.

She hope that her mom let them go to prison for once.

Especially given how pissed she was at them both for trying to pimp her out like she were a fucking whore instead of treating her like a person.

Sitting down at the small island in her kitchen after she grabbed a spoon, she picked up one of the yogurts and began eating it. She felt so damned hungry that it barely took her two minutes to eat the damn thing before there was nothing left of it.

Setting the plastic container aside, she grabbed another yogurt and wolfed it down too before quickly following it with two in a half muffins- pumpkin spice, raspberry, lemon poppy, and banana nut- she had two pumpkin spice muffin's, and a nice warm part of banana nut.

That was promptly followed by chugging some milk straight from the jug after which she put the milk back in the fridge and then staggered off down the hall to her room to catch up on her sleep.

* * *

By the time ten pm rolled around, Rick had checked out of his hotel, and was currently sitting outside of Sara's home prepping the sedative that he would be using while trying to talk on the phone with his Beta, who was quite literally losing his shit because another of the pack was pissed off at him and had been stalking him to freak him out like he had the last time he'd gotten pissed.

Mainly because he knew that Rick's Beta would freak out and blow up his phone with his distress calls. So finally once he had calmed Glen down, he mentioned calling one of the pack females to keep him company and snorted as Glen practically shouted, "Why can't you just send Shane over? He's a more appropriate meat shield!"

Earning a half growl, half choked laugh of amusement from him before he went on to tell Glen that if he referred to Shane as a meat shield again, Shane would likely take up stalking him too. And there was no way in hell that he was going to let the crazy Korean near his home for a good long time if he brought shit with him.

As much as he didn't mind the occasional fight between his pack mates- he didn't want that shit anywhere near Sara or the pup.

After all, all it would take is _one_ mistake. One, and he could lose not only Sara but the pup or even both. And that was unacceptable to him. Especially since he had planned to mate Sara, if she found them compatible enough.

After all, it would be her choice. Which was more than most, more traditional Alpha's would give her if she were carrying their pup.

If he were anyone else, he would have dragged her into an alleyway the first night that he'd found her and raped and mated her against her will.

But he didn't do that, because he wasn't that kind of person. He didn't want to be _that_ kind of person.

The kind that could so easily force a mating on an innocent young human female and think it was his right to do so despite the fact that she would always be terrified of him whenever he tried to go near her afterwards.

As it was he may have to place a claim mark on her. It was different from a full on mating because there was only a little bit of intimacy involved. Usually only as much as the female wanted or could stand.

The claiming was like a pre-engagement thing. In human terms, a part of a courtship ritual that either ended in mating or didn't.

However he would give her a choice with that too and even tell her how it _could_ and _would_ help protect her and their pup. Especially if he gained her permission to lay his mark on her instead of forcing it.

His kind could always smell a forced mating and claim. Mainly because the rancid smell of terror never faded from the female's being no matter how much time passed. Whereas a mutually agreed upon mating and claiming smelled more natural.

It didn't alter the female's normal scent. If anything it made it somewhat sweeter. More mouthwatering and difficult to resist to the one who placed the mark.

In truth Rick wasn't one hundred percent sure how he would react to Sara's scent once he placed a claiming mark on her. But he was pretty sure that every hour he spent close to her, he'd feel as if he were drunk on her scent.

Flicking his phone shut after sending a quick text to another of his pack mates, his neon blue eyes flickering to Sara's home for a moment. Taking note of the fact that all of her lights were out.

Meaning that she was likely asleep.

Glancing around the neighborhood, he took note of how many people in the homes closest to her were still awake and was somewhat relieved to find that only one person was. Now was the time to go.


	3. Chapter 3

Taking Sara was far easier than he had expected it would be.

 _Perhaps a little bit too easy given how I hadn't had to use the sedative on her_ , _she practically slept through everything._ Rick thought to himself from the second bedroom of his house, in the Alpha community in Atlanta Georgia five hours and thirty minutes later.

He had been home for the better part of an hour in a half trying to get everything settled a little bit- after putting Sara to bed in the full sized bed several inches away among the small sea of lovely lilac purple and aquamarine pillows, cushions and covers with silver thread embroidery- while he could since he knew that he likely wouldn't have much peace once Sara was awake again.

Especially given how frightened he anticipated that she would be the moment that she woke up and realized that she was in a strange and unfamiliar place with a strange and unfamiliar man.

Not only that but he was worried about how she may react to his pack when they all came over for breakfast as usual in the morning to catch up and introduce themselves to her and scent her so that they'll know to keep an eye on her and protect her and the pup when he wasn't around to do it himself.

But he wasn't going to lie, that wasn't going to happen very often. Partially because he knew that he wasn't going to so much as let her out of his sight for a long, _long_ time. Or at least until the pup was old enough to walk and run.

The rest of the time he was going to have various members of his pack stay with her and escort her around town since that would be far safer for her than simply letting her run around alone.

Especially given that others would see her as fair game for a potential mate and breeder.

He worried that he may have some issues with one or two of the more traditional members of his pack due to how unclaimed/unmarked/unmated females that were breeding, tended to be see as whores. He knew Abraham would be a little bit of an issue. The man had a bad history of saying shit about people that wasn't true and causing nothing but discord among the pack.

And then there was Andrea, another traditionalist that tended to cause issues within the pack. She was snide, petty, vindictive- and had had her sights set on him ever since Shane had dumped her to mate Lori.

Of course Rick had told her that he would never mate with her. To be perfectly honest, he had at one time thought about mating her, but her personality disgusted him so much that the mere thought of mating with her made him flaccid.

Which was oddly the tactic he would be using often from now on until he and Sara were closer. He gets an erection- and thinks of Andrea- and it goes away. It would have been comically funny, if it wasn't so goddamn sad.

The other members of his pack weren't bad.

They had their weird quirks, like stalking, TP'ing yards, ripping things like car doors off of cars ect... but they themselves weren't bad. Even Rick had his weird quirks.

They weren't anything terrible or even really noticeable unless someone knew him really well and knew enough about what to look for. But when he was stressed...he liked to go to sneak into various pack mate's homes and steal their left shoes and all of the socks for their right foot.

And he never gave them back either. No- he buried them and went on with his life knowing that he got his stress out and didn't hurt anyone in the process.

There were holes that he'd dug at one point or another and filled with nothing but shoes and socks. He'd heard one of his pack mate's jokingly call his yard a 'shoe and sock' graveyard once, after which Rick had waited until the cover of night to retaliate by instead of simply taking his shoes and socks- he had stolen his pack mate's tires off of his car and buried them as well.

It had pissed Daryl off something awful to have his wheels literally missing come the morning, but Rick hadn't given himself away as the 'diabolical' perp.

No, no, no- there was no point in Daryl attempting to rain down his wrath upon his head given that he was the leader of their pack and doing so was potentially suicidal.

No- instead when Daryl had shown up that morning for breakfast with the pack- Rick had been all innocence and denial as he had stared his other beta down over the rim of his coffee cup.

His neon blue eyes flickered away from Sara's figure for a moment as he thought about how scared, stressed and utterly _terrified_ she would probably be once she awoke and internally cringed as he realized what a bad combo all of that was on top of meeting his pack.

Some would take just a second to smell her fear and start attacking. If not physically, then verbally.

Shit why hadn't he thought this through a little bit more before bringing her home with him? The sheer amount of stress that Sara would be under for the next few weeks/months alone could do some serious harm to their pup. And that was the last thing that he needed given the fact that he wasn't sure what he would do if she miscarried due to it.

He wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep himself from losing control and possibly doing irreparable harm to her if she lost their pup. Sure he logically knew that it wouldn't be her fault, it was just something that tended to happen. The reasons varied. And tended to have more to do with illness, stress, alcohol, drugs, rape, physical violence, suicidal tendencies...

Sighing softly, he scrubbed his face with his hands and then looked out of the window for a moment.

He would have to watch her carefully to make sure that none of those things came into play. He would also have to carefully monitor her food and drink intake and make sure that she took the vitamins and supplements that he had stocked up on before he left.

Deciding to settle himself on the small seat in the bay window to await for her to wake up, Rick silently padded across the room and sat down on the plush cushion there and then folded his arms over his chest and crossed his ankles and leaned himself back until his back was touching the window in a somewhat lazy manner.

And just waited.


	4. Chapter 4

Sara slowly sat up in her bed and rubbed at her sleep bleary eyes with one of her hands before letting it drop back to her lap and looked around. Something felt off. She was still a bit too sleepy to really put her finger on what it was, but deep down inside, she knew that something was fundamentally wrong.

It took her a few moments to let the fog over her mind lift, but once it did she blinked her eyes as she took in the layout of the room that she was in and realized, this wasn't her bedroom.

Hell from the lay out of the furniture alone, she could tell that this wasn't even in home!

 _Great. Kidnapped again. Dad and Andrew had better not be behind this or I'll-_ Her thoughts were abruptly cut off by the sound of someone to her left, clearing their throat. Slowly turning her head to the left, her heart suddenly slammed against her ribs in a panicked thudding sensation as her eyes locked on the semi shadow covered figure sitting in the bay window.

She let out a shuddering breath as she saw the man lean forward and rest his elbows lazily on his knees, his softly glowing, glittering neon blue eyes watching her every move like a hawk.

From what little bit of light she could see streaming through the window she could easily make out some of his features. A chiseled, square jaw covered in a light shadow of stubble, long-ish curly dark hair that fell almost past his shoulders. Sensuous lips, with a small hint of fang showing from his slightly parted lips.

She couldn't see his body too well, but he didn't appear to be one of those huge, insanely muscled kind of guys that tended to work out too much and drink nothing but 'cough *steroid* cough', protein shakes constantly. Though she estimated that he was about six foot two, maybe six foot three and weighed between one hundred and seventy nine to two hundred pounds.

So he had some muscle on his frame, but probably not as much as she imagined.

"Ya alright?" He asked, his unusual colored eyes looking her over...carefully. As if he were concerned that she were going to go into hysterics or something.

But the joke was on him, whoever he was. When you tended to get kidnapped as often as she did, one practically became almost immune to the fear that kidnapping tended to bring out. So if he was expecting her to go into a full blown panic, or hysterics- he had another thing coming.

Besides...she needed to go into hysterics like she needed a hole in her head.

"Bathroom?" Was all that she could think to say in response to his question. The man reacted to her question by automatically lifting a hand and pointing to the area across the room from the bed that she was sitting on. She'd thought that it was a closet at first, but the fact that it was a bathroom and he responded so quickly meant that he didn't want her pissing on his floor.

 _Good._ Because that would be awkward. She thought to herself as she pushed the covers off of her and slowly moved to the edge of the bed so that she could climb off. The process was a tad bit lower than she would have liked. Especially after the _unbelievable_ twenty- no, thirty something hours that she had been through.

Moving as quickly as she could without giving the appearance of running, she made her way to the bathroom and quietly closed the door and locked it as she flicked on the lights. Not exactly sure what she was expecting when she looked in the mirror over the sink, but the first thing that she noticed was that she was wearing clothing.

It wasn't anything terribly immodest given that it was something that most likely belonged to the man on the other side of the bathroom door. After all it was big and bulky and comfortable.

But then most thin, cotton, long sleeved button downs were.

And this one it seemed was no exception.

She supposed that she should be grateful to him for not leaving her in just her panties and bra. And she was, she suppose. But she was uncertain about how she should feel about a stranger dressing her before removing her form her home.

It was obvious that he didn't appear interested in hurting her. Or at least that was how things appeared to her. But she wouldn't know for certain unless she tried talking to the man. He was after all, an Alpha.

His eyes had given him away. His kind had such peculiar colored eyes that tended to glow softly in darkness. Lifting a hand to tap herself between the eyes with her fingertips for a moment, a nervous habit that she'd had since she was a child and needed to think. She tried to go over what little bit of information she knew about Alpha's.

1) They were a slightly more primitively driven subspecies of human.

2)They had a sort of hierarchy that allowed them to live and function much like canines. The ranking system was along the same as a canine's too. Though there were no Omega's in any of the packs.

3) Packs were important. Especially the females and pups because they were the future of the species.

4) Alpha's rarely did anything without some sort of logic/instinct driving them.

5) Not all Alpha's or packs, were violent. In fact many didn't want to hurt or harm anyone. And likely wouldn't unless there was a good reason behind it such as being attacked or attacking the more vulnerable members of an Alpha's pack.

And...to be perfectly honest that was really all that she recalled from the few times she'd sat down and spoken to other Alpha's about their kind. She was so lost in her thoughts that she almost forgot where she was for a moment, and so became startled when she heard a soft thump of the man's fist as it lightly rapped on the door, soon followed by his muffled voice.

Again asking her if she was okay.

"I-I'm fine. Just...gimme a second to finish up in here and wash my hands." She called back and internally cringed at the words she'd just spoken. Great, now she was in a strange bathroom with an strange Alpha standing just outside the door, thinking that she was taking a dump...

How much more embarrassing could this night- er, day get? Muttering about it under her breath, she went ahead and used the facilities and then moved to wash her hands and didn't bother drying them since she usually didn't waste towels on such trivialities before moving over to the door and unlocking it.

And nearly jumped out of her skin the moment that she did because the Alpha wasted no time whatsoever in opening the door and stepping into the small room, his eerie eyes studying her for a moment as he slowly raised his hands as if he wanted to touch her but was wary of doing so.

He wound up standing there with his hands up for a good four minutes or so before finally dropping them and slowly backing himself out of the bathroom and going back to the window so that he could wait for her to come out and sit down.

And once she did, he finally spoke again. "I imagine that you have some questions." His voice had a soothing quality to it that made her shiver even as she nodded her head as he said, "Alright. Ask me."

"Okay. Why am I here?"

"That's...actually a little bit complicated to explain."

"So? Try."

The Alpha snorted softly in amusement before muttering, "You're a pushy little thing, aren't ya."

"Not really. But you have to admit, this is a peculiar situation." She said as she pushed her hair back from her face some. The Alpha gave her a small shoulder shrug and then began speaking.

"When I was younger, maybe about eighteen or so. I decided to donate sperm at a bank. Partially in the hopes of preventing my bloodline form dying out if something ever happened to me. And partially because I just wanted a family. Even if I never managed to meet them. In my mind, the female that would bear my pups is as good as my mate in everything but deed."

"I waited, and waited. And looked for years for a mate to bear my pups and take her place beside me. Then about two months or so ago, I received a confirmation letter from the bank. You see, I had signed papers giving me the right to know the female carrying my young. So when one finally came along, I got the letter with her information. According to the letter, the woman carrying my first pup, was named Sara Circe. I had her home address, her work address, her age- everything that I could need to know. Including a photo of her just in case I was curious."

"Which I was. I wanted to meet her. To know what kind of woman would be birthing my pup until I found out that she was an ordinary human. This fact scared me. Not because I'm prejudice or anything. But because of the health issues that come from human females carrying one of my kind. So I tracked you down and decided that it would be best for you and the pup to be near me just in case something happened."

"A-And that's why I'm here? I-I'm having your-" She stammered out as her hand went protectively to her stomach.

"Pup. Yes." The Alpha said with a slight nod of his head as he watched her expression for any true signs of distress. She looked more than a little bit shell shocked by the fact that the pup wasn't a normal human like herself. Though he couldn't really blame her for feeling that way. Nor was he offended by her feeling that way.

It was a normal reaction, he supposed. However the moment he saw her eyes roll back in her head and she started to fall forward, he was up and across the room wrapping her in his arms so that he could stop her from falling off of the bed and hurting herself.

Grunting softly at her full weight hitting him in the chest, he stood there with his arms wrapped protectively around her slender form for a moment before shifting his hold so that he could tangle one hand in her hair and tipped her head back so that he could lean down a bit and take in her scent to double check on her.

Because physically he knew that she was fine. She'd fainted, he caught her. She was good. However, her scent told him an entirely different story.

Her scent practically screamed to him that she wasn't okay. She was in shock, overwhelmed, he'd pushed a little bit too far and dropped too much information bombs on her.

Sighing, Rick pulled his face away from her throat and then took a moment to gently lay her on the bed and tuck her back in. Something told him that the poor gal was going to be out for a bit.

He supposed that he should do something productive in that time, but to be honest, he didn't want to leave her alone after she had just fainted on him. So instead he slipped off his shoes and carefully laid himself on top of the covers next to her and gently tugged her back against his front and closed his eyes.

Maybe he'd just grab a nap for a little bit. He was sure that she would likely voice her displeasure by screaming at him like he were the devil later. And maybe he would deserve it for cuddling her without permission and all, but he didn't want to leave her alone and then have something happen to the pup before either of them realized it.

So staying put was the safer option given how stressed she must be right now.


	5. Chapter 5

Rick awakens a little while later, perhaps an hour or two after laying down next to Sara and noticed that she was still out cold. And the early morning sun was starting to slowly stream it's way through the window, illuminating the room so that he could see it better.

Lori had really outdone herself with the furnishings and decorating. The colors, the dark oak dresser and armoire and the small vanity table where there was a small, yet nice collection of sweet smelling floral perfumes in beautiful designer crystal containers.

There was makeup set out, every color of every item imaginable. There was a medium sized jewelry box, also made of solid dark oak, set off to the side for anything that Rick may buy for her during her stay. As part of him wooing her so that she would agree to being his mate.

Carefully shifting himself so that Sara was no longer laying on his shoulder as she had been for the past while, given how damned numb the limb was. He managed to free himself without waking her and then took a moment to check his wrist watch for the time.

It was almost seven, and if he didn't get his ass up and moving now then it would only be a little while before his pack came a'knocking at his front door, wanting entry so that they could begin to set things up for their usual pack breakfast.

He surmised that he needed a shower, clean clothing, possibly a shave and then to maybe attempt to rouse Sara without alarming her...

Yeah, he had some shit to do.

Stealthily rolling off of the bed, he leaned down and quietly collected his shoes and headed out of the bedroom door to do all of that before it was too late.

The shower didn't take him long, mainly because he didn't have a lot to clean like a female had. Though he did make it a habit of regularly soaping up his junk just in case he started to smell kinda musky down there. And that wasn't always an easy thing to do considering just how _thoroughly_ he had to clean his nuts at least every other day or so.

If he didn't, he tended to chafe and that made him fucking cranky. And the last time he'd gotten cranky about anything, was at least eleven years ago. And he'd been so damned cranky then that he'd gone out into the street and flipped a buick that had been driving down the street towards him.

No one had gotten hurt, thank god. And the only good thing that had come out of the incident was that Glen never made anymore attempts to remove his normal caffeinated coffee from his cupboard or tried to switch it out with decaf again.

Once he was finished showering, he turned off the water and then grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his hips and then grabbed his razor and stepped over to the sink and began the tedious task of shaving.

He must have nicked his jaw and neck at least a dozen times, and was most certainly bleeding a bit before he finally finished shaving and set aside his razor so that he could grab a small wash clothe, wet it in the sink and wipe his face off so that there was no longer any shaving cream on it.

Once that was done, he dried himself off and then dropped the towel into the hamper and silently padded into his room where he had left out some clothing for himself before showering, and began to dress himself.

He was mid way through pulling on his blue, green and black plaid button up shirt when he heard his front door downstairs open and the low murmur of several of his pack mates speaking amongst themselves as they let themselves in.

Pausing in mid motion, Rick cocked his head ever so slightly as he tried to recall what everyone had discussed about this morning's breakfast almost three weeks in advance. Were they supposed to have the white chocolate chip and almond pancakes? Or the all you can eat various foods?

He had stocked up for the various foods before leaving. Eggs, bacon, waffles, fruit, bread for toast, sausages, stuff to make omelets ect. He just hoped that he got enough of _everything_ and _everyone_.

Though in his case, if his pack managed to go through at least six hundred and seventy nine dollars worth of food this morning at breakfast them their pack bonding was going to have to become a every other week thing instead of a weekly one.

And his pack mates were going to have to start ponying up and buying their own damned stuff to bring. He had a female and pup to take care of now. He needed to start managing his funds a little bit better.

Perhaps he could dig up a few glass jars that he had hidden in his yard? He was sure that he still had at least ten with a little over forty five thousand and nine hundred and ninty-nine dollars hidden away within them, in total. And then there was the cash in his safe along with his spare gun for when he was off duty.

The cash that he had in his safe was usually for emergencies, though he'd given Shane the combination so that he could get some of the money out for Lori when she went and done some shopping for Sara's things. He wasn't exactly sure how much she had spent, but he wasn't exactly concerned when it came to Sara's or the pups comfort.

Hearing the vague sound of giggling from the two pups in his pack, Shane and Lori's pup- Carl, and another of his pack mates offspring, a little girl named Sophia- that he could hear running up the stairs. He assumed to find him and drag him downstairs to greet the others, when it suddenly occurred to him that they would follow his scent straight to Sara's room.

The second that he realized this, he was practically tripping over himself to get out of his bedroom and to Sara's before the pups woke her up.

However upon reaching the bedroom, he came to an abrupt stop upon finding that Sara was already wide awake, and from the looks of it, she had been for a while. It also looked as if she had gone through some of the stuff that he'd requested Lori get for her, and took a shower and dressed.

She was sitting at the little vanity brushing some of the tangles out of her strawberry blond hair when she had noticed the pups and now was playing a silent game of red light, green light with them. Giving the curious pups a chance to get in close to her and check her out.

Rick's breath caught in his throat at the sight of Sara playing with the two pups. Apparently not caring if they were strangers to her or not. This- this little event, gave him a clear idea of what she would be like as the mother of his pup. And the fact that he was seeing it in fact instead of simply imaging it, stole his breath away.

His neon blue eyes flashed to a glowing turquoise for a moment as his desire to step into the room and walk over to Sara and take her lips in a hungry kiss, rose up viciously within him. Warring with his logical mind. However it was the fact that the pups were present and that Sara didn't know him that kept him firmly rooted to where he stood, merely quietly observing the three until Carl finally seemed to notice him and let out a little yip to announce to Sophia that he was there.

Causing the two to automatically run over to him and wrap themselves around both of his legs and yip for his attention. Rick chuckled at the two and absently reached down to ruffle their hair as his eyes stayed glued to his female for several moments longer, taking in her appearance.

She looked considerably better than she had been in the past two in a half weeks since he'd first seen her. The circles underneath her eyes weren't as noticeable, plus without what was left of the horrible makeup that her face had been covered in yesterday morning and last night when he had taken her- she looked much, much more appealing.

Less like a whore on a cock binge and more like the female that he'd come to like so much.

That and the clothing that she had decided on, a cream colored light cotton sweater with pastel pink and purple floral embroidery, and a pair of slightly loose jeans that were just baggy enough to be comfortable for her and accommodate her body's future growth.

Her hair was left unbound so far, and hung down, framing her angelic face and shoulders.

She looked at him for a moment. Her eyes wide and surprised. Much like her expression, before it shifted to something along the lines of guilt and she quickly looked away from him, causing him to frown a little bit in confusion as he made a soft growling sound that told the pups to run along and go back downstairs.

The two yipped at him one final time and then unwound themselves from his legs and quickly scampered back down stairs as he entered Sara's room and quickly crossed the distance between them and gently reached out and took her chin in his fingers and turned her head so that she was looking at him again.

"Why do you look away from me? Did I make you uncomfortable staring?" Rick asked in a soft tone as he knelt down on the floor in front of her so that they were eye to eye, his warm breath ghosted across her skin, eliciting a small shiver from her.

He waited patiently for her to answer his questions, as she seemed to be thinking about her response.

Finally she managed to say, "N-No. I was...just thinking about last night and..." Rick's expression remained curious though that quickly changed to bewildered amusement as she suddenly blurted out, ""Y-You're a lot more handsome in the light of day than I expected you would be."

He gave a small, laugh at her words as she flushed a pretty pink as he slowly got to his feet and held a hand out to her and waited for her to take it as he finally settled down enough to recall that he never had any chance to introduce himself.

"My name is Rick Grimes, Alpha of the Walking Dead group of Atlanta Georgia."

"Sara Circe. Nice to meet you Rick- Um...why the weird name for your group?"

"That's Glen and Shane's fault. The two are freaks for zombies. Says that there is nothing scarier." Sara gave a small, slightly nervous sounding laugh.


	6. Chapter 6

Everyone within his pack had just finished up cooking and laying all of the food and plates out on the long, antique style table set up in the living room when Rick led Sara down the stairs and then took a moment to pause when he saw how she subconsciously half hid herself behind him the exact moment that everyone in the pack turned to look at them.

Their gazes sliding right past him and directly to her, making her a tad bit uncomfortable.

It was Shane, who was the first to react and break the disconcerting silence. "Well, it's about goddamn time my alpha grew out of his tighty-whitey's and brought himself a female home. Rick, alpha, she _is_ a beauty," Shane said good naturedly as he crossed the distance between the rest of the pack and Rick and Sara, and smiled at his Alpha before shifting his undivided attention to the woman. "Hello Sara. My name is Shane. I'm one of the Beta's of the pack, and Rick's adoptive brother. My mate, Lori is the one who went out shopping yesterday to get you clothing and stuff. Did she manage to get everything? Are you comfortable? If she missed anything, I or one of the others would be happy to-" He was cut off by Andrea's usual pissy tone as the woman growled out.

"What the hell smells like human covered in pig shit?"

Both Shane and Rick were quick to react with loud snarls, their lips peeled back from their fangs in a frightening display and made Sara almost wish that she had decided that she should stay upstairs.

However she didn't move- or rather she couldn't since Rick had an arm securely wrapped around her body. Refusing to let her so much as move an inch away from him while Shane subtly moved over in front of her as if to shield her from Andrea's hateful words.

"Mind your tongue Andrea. No one in my home smells like pig shit, especially not Sara. She smells like perfection." Rick said with an noticeable growl to his voice as Shane piped up adding his two cents to the conversation.

"Don't bother responding to Andera's shit, Rick. You know that she's probably jealous of Sara's position within our pack. After all, even she would have no choice but to obey her Alpha female. Human or otherwise."

"What are you talking about?" Someone else, a male given the masculine sound of his voice, asked curiously.

"That's part of the reason that I decided on today to have out usual pack breakfast," Rick said before then going on to say. "As some of you know, I have a pup on the way," Everyone who didn't already know this went totally still and silent as he then tacked on, "And also as some of you don't know- the female carrying my pup is a young human... This human to be exact."

"Her name is Sara," Shane said before tacking on in an almost gleeful tone. "And since she's carrying Rick's pup. His _first_ pup. Our pack laws as well as our Alpha, have elevated her status and made her the Alpha female of the pack. She and the pup- are as of this moment, _untouchable_ under penalty of exile or death. So those of you who aren't going to be little spiteful, petty- spiteful-"

"You said, spiteful twice." Rick whispered awkwardly as he looked down at Sara for a moment and saw her watching everything through wide, almost wary looking eyes. And let out a soft growl next to her ear in the hopes that it would calm her nerves a little bit.

"I know," Shane whispered back before going on to say. "That's because she is spiteful. Doubly so- Bitches- get over here and introduce yourselves and get to know your Alpha female."

"But take things a little slowly, Sara's had a very stressful few days. And I don't want anything to happen to her or the pup." Rick said as everyone began to slowly shuffle forward to do as Shane said.

The Beta's came first.

Their names being Daryl, Glen, Dale- who was a more than lovely elderly fella in Sara's opinion- and then there were the female Beta's. Maggie. Glen's mate to be if the way that he fawned over her and she over him was any indication at all. Another elderly man named Hershel. Who happened to be Maggie's father. Then there was Michonne, a quiet, but friendly african American woman. And a woman who appeared to be about fifty something, named Carol, who as it turned out was the little girl from earlier- mother. And the last of the females was Shane's mate, Lori who was the mother of the little boy that was introduced to her as Carl.

Next up were the Gamma's.

Andrea, she already knew. And was grateful for Rick's interference when the woman came over and all but spit in her face. Causing Rick to react by grabbing her by the throat in a lightning quick move that nearly had Sara jumping out of her skin, before the man handed the unruly pack mate off to Shane to deal with.

And everyone watched as the beta dragged the bitchy blond out of the house through the sliding glass door leading out to the patio and picked her up and chucked her into the yard like a sack of garbage and then came back inside.

"She won't be coming back for now. Not until she can apologize for her disrespect." Shane said as he meandered back over to Rick and Sara's side to help out if anyone else decided to step out of line.

After Andrea, Sara sort of lost count of how many people came up and introduced themselves to her. At least until this tall ginger guy with a military crew cut walked up and looked her over and gave her a once over and smirked before saying his name and then promptly walked off.

The next up for introduction were the Delta's. The meeker and more timid of the group, almost like Omega's, but not quite so submissive.

There weren't that many of them to introduce, much less remember in total. Though if she really thought about it, Rick's pack was fairly large compared to most Alpha packs. He had nearly thirty something members in his pack. And it would only grow even more as time went on.

Finally everyone had come up to say hello- sans Andrea- and Rick announced that it was finally time to eat and gently took her arm in his and guided her through the crowd to the table and handed her a plate and told her to get whatever she wanted from the table.

Sara eyed the spread for a moment. Before she awkwardly shifted herself to squeeze past Rick, who tried to ignore the way that her body brushed tantalizingly against his own, even in an innocent way, as she moved to get some sausages and bacon.

And by some, he noted that she had at least ten or more of each before moving on to get an omelet or three which was quickly followed by some soup, four muffins, five pancakes and a large portion of macaroni salad. Which he wasn't going to lie, raised an eye brown or two from him and a couple others in his pack. However he wrote it off as Sara needing the extra food because she was eating for two.

It never occurred to him what aside from she little she had scarfed down the day prior, she rarely ate anything at all for days. And when she usually had the chance, she liked to put food back for snacks and other meals. Enough to last her for a while anyways.

If he _had_ known, he would have fixed a couple extra plates for her with some more stuff to put up in his fridge for later. Instead he was a little bit busy basking in her presence and being happy that she seemed so content.

Things were going much smoother with her than he had first expected. After all, he had expected her to act like Lori when she had first found out about Alpha's and such. However her actions and behavior so far indicated some knowledge of his kind. For which he was grateful for.

He hadn't wanted another Lori running around.

Lori, when she'd first come to the Alpha community, hadn't realized at first that she was the only human until she'd found out about them. Then promptly had a nervous breakdown, knocked Shane and him unconscious once they both dropped their guard, stolen and then totaled his old and _very_ expensive car- and then had tried running away on a broken leg that she had received from the accident.

It hadn't taken much for himself and Shane to manage to run her down and catch her.

Of course Shane had done it in typical Shane-like style. He'd tackled her to the ground and hog tied her before hefting the shrieking and crying woman up over his shoulder and looking Rick in the eye and simply saying, "I'll be taking our sprinter to the hospital now."

Lori had spent a majority of her time living with Shane because she's required surgery to fix the nerve damage in her leg since apparently she had messed it up worse than they had thought. And months after her third and final surgery, Shane and begun courting the woman.

Looking away from Sara for several moments to fix his own plate, he completely missed Abraham walking up behind her and copping a feel of her rear as he leaned over her back and muttered something in her ear eliciting a shriek from the woman that somewhat startled Rick whom had just poured himself a cup of coffee and was in the process of taking a drink when he turned his head just in time to catch Sara setting her plate down with a dark look on her face and then...

Everything just seemed to blur after that. Sure he could see what happened, but he was sure that his mind sort of temporarily shut down. At least up until she somehow managed to flip Abraham so that he hit the floor with a loud thud and lay there whimpering.

It was at this point that Rick realized that he was choking on his drink and quickly handed it off to Shane who only stuck around close to him only long enough to take it before he- like the other males in the pack that had just witnessed his Sara asserting herself- backed himself into the farthest wall and tried to make himself look like he were one with the wall paper.

Rick couldn't help but stare at his pupped female in wide eyed awe and wonder. It was rare that a female of any ilk could take down one of his kind. So naturally it did a real number on his mind to see something- so...damn sexy, occur up close and personal like this.

His eyes began glowing with the force of his arousal as he took several steps towards Sara, pausing only briefly to glance down at the ginger male, whom he _would_ be dealing with later before he took his eyes off of the male. Totally dismissing him as he finally reached her side and asked in a low rumbling voice filled with such sinful promise.

"Will you let me kiss you?"


	7. Chapter 7

Sara looked at Rick wide eyed in surprise at his words as her mind went through them over and over again before finally realizing that he was still waiting for her to respond. Not trusting her voice to work right due to the fact that she was barely managing not to tremble with rage after what the ginger had done and said to her- she nodded her head curtly and moved forward, towards Rick.

Unfortunately, the mountain of ginger was in her way. So she took a moment to stomp on him eliciting a purr like sound from Rick as he wrapped his arms around her and tangled his fingers in her silken hair and tilted her head back just enough to be able to place his lips close to hers and say, "I'll ask later what he did. But for now I just want to kiss you."

Finally managing to find her voice, she whispered, "Then what are you waiting for?" Earning herself a wolf-ish smile from him, a quick flash of white teeth and small fangs, before he pressed his lips against her own in an achingly tender kiss that felt like it seared her.

Branded her being as his.

It shook her up so badly that she brought her hands up and lightly pushed at his chest to indicate that he should let her go. And he respected her wishes, despite the fact that he wanted so damned much to taste her sweetness so thoroughly he'd become drunk from it.

Slowly, reluctantly letting his hands fall away from her so that she could step back away from him. His glowing eyes followed her every move as she did so. Watching her nervously tuck a few strands of her hair behind one ear while she tasted him on her lips with the tip of her tongue. A small frown marring her face for a moment as she did so, her eyes catching his glowing stare before she gave him a small shy smile. A pretty flush working it's way up to her face.

Giving her an enchanting look even as she said softly. "I-I'm sorry but I don't think that I can eat right now, I'm just going to go back upstairs for a bit." Rick's eyes flashed back to normal as his mind registered her words and he felt a sliver of concern for her wellbeing.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm feeling kind of nauseous." It wasn't the kind of thing a man liked to hear after kissing a gal he fancied so sweetly. And Sara must have known that once she realized what she had said because she was quick to assure him that it she probably had a touch of morning sickness. She sometimes tended to get ill at the most inopportune times.

Which somewhat soothed his ego, but it didn't exactly take his concern away even when she assured him that she would eat something once her stomach settled, and asked him to put her breakfast back for her for later.

He wanted to tell her no, to sit down and choke something down- but held his tongue when Shane's hand suddenly clapped down on his shoulder and he heard his Beta say soothingly, "You go ahead then Sara. We'll make sure that your plate and something to drink is put back for later. But you need to eat a big lunch to compensate."

Sara nodded her head and promised to do what she could later and then turned and quickly excited the room as Rick let out a low warning growl and turned to Shane, his neon eyes blazing as he opened his mouth to tear into him for overstepping- Shane quickly slapped a hand over his mouth and hissed at him to keep his mouth shut for a moment and hear him out.

Rick growled again and then nipped sharply at his brother's hand to get him to remove it from his mouth.

Eliciting a small yelp from Shane as he did as Rick wanted and removed his hand from his mouth before glaring at his Alpha for a second and then saying, "I know that your worried about Sara and your instinct is telling you to have her sit down and force something down her throat right now- but remember that she's human. A pupped human, even Lori had trouble eating stuff during the first few months of her pregnancy. Forcing her to eat right now will only make her morning sickness worse. So just wait a little bit."

"Also Lori and I are going into town after breakfast to grab some stuff. Prenatal vitamins and some other odds and ends that you may not have thought of. I've also had Lori set Sara up with the town's OBGYN, her first appointment is in a week. I've even talked to our boss about letting you have a little bit of extra time to get things settled before coming back to work. You'll have an extra month or so free, and I'll be pulling double shifts. But..." Shane trailed off when he noted that Rick wasn't growling at him anymore and met his brother's eyes for a moment. Rick looked at a loss, which wasn't all that surprising since having a pupped human female now residing with him.

After all, for Rick this was new and uncharted territory. Sometimes what he did for specific situations, was going to be as natural to him as breathing. And other times, he was going to flounder helplessly.

Right now, he was floundering. He may not know or even realize it, but Shane and the others that knew him well could see that he was.

His rational mind was warring with his instinct to provide for Sara and his pup.

Shane understood this, but if he pushed the woman over the wrong things or even at the wrong times- it would create a rift between the two that may one day take it's toll on Sara and drive her off completely. And the last thing that he wanted for his brother was for him to be alone for the rest of his life. The man deserved a good woman to come home too. And a few dozen cute little pups to run around after and play with.

So he'd be damned if he let Rick fuck things up with Sara, even accidentally.

* * *

The moment that Sara was in what she supposed was her room again, she closed the door a little bit and then wondered over to the bay window and sat down on the plush cushion seat and grabbed one of the ornate throw pillows and hugged it as she looked out of the window and wondered not for the first time, just what the hell she was doing.

She'd been kidnapped by an Alpha, and yeah, he was handsome, and sort of boyishly charming and kind of a little bit bashful- and he was the father of her unborn daughter or son- and apparently didn't mean her any harm.

But she wasn't sure if letting him take such liberties such as kissing her was a good idea. But in her defense, she didn't know enough about his kind to know how he would have reacted in the state that he'd been in if she had said no.

His eyes were easy to read and so expressive that they easily gave him away.

He'd looked at her as if she were a steak and he was a man starving. It had taken her a moment to place the emotion in his eyes, but once she had- she had responded to it- though she didn't really understand why.

He'd been aroused by her. Very much so, savagely so- and it had sent a thrill straight through her being to her core, causing her to begin to get wet. But his kiss... That had shaken her even more than the fact that she was getting wet by the fact that he wanted her.

She...had, shockingly, and _embarrassingly_...creamed herself a little bit. Which was part of why she had run away. That and she had finally remembered that they had an audience and then there was what the ginger had said in her ear when he'd been touching her.

 _"Mmm, but you have such a nice ass. I wonder if it's as tight as it looks or if it's as loose as your pussy is. I'd love to find out..."_

The ginger's words had shocked and disgusted her. And after creaming herself just from being kissed, the words had come back to haunt her like a bad dream. It'd been like having a bucket of ice thrown on her.

Sniffling a little bit in an effort to try and hold back the tears threatening to spill over, she wondered what she should do. She'd never imagined that wanting a baby and a family of her own that wasn't insane- like her father and brother- would cause her so much trouble.

It didn't mean that she didn't still want those things, or that she loved her baby any less. She just felt...more than a little bit lost at the moment.

And she kinda needed to change her panties before Rick came up in a little bit and smelled her. Sighing she put the pillow that she had been hugging down and slowly got up to go and do that when she saw something out of the corner of her eye and damn near jumped out of her skin and screamed until she realized that it was a couple. One of the women that she had met, Carol, and the man named Daryl.

The two were standing in the doorway to her room watching her quietly when the woman gave her an friendly smile and said quietly, "We knocked when we came up but you seemed to be in your own little world."

Sara floundered for a moment before finally managing to say in a raspy tone, "O-Oh, yeah. Sorry." The woman waved her apology away as Sara invited them to come inside of the room when the woman smiled at her and said that they shouldn't. Rick wouldn't like their scents muddling her personal space and then politely thanked her for the invite though, and then told her that they had just come up to make sure that she was okay.

Sara told them that she was fine, just a little bit nauseous. Though she got the impression that the two didn't exactly believe her, Carol told her that if she needed anything to let them know and then quietly slipped off. Leaving Daryl behind for a moment longer so that he could tell her to get some rest before he too slipped off and left her alone.

Leaving Sara wondering if maybe they had been drawn by her scent and simply wanted to check things out on Rick's behalf as covertly as possible.

She hoped not. But she could tell right away that the two had been in her door way for more than simply checking up on her.


	8. Chapter 8

About an hour or so after dealing with Abraham and he and everyone had left and Rick had seen Shane and Lori and Carl off the same way that he'd seen Carol and Sophia off- by walking the two families back to their home after asking Daryl and Glen to hang out at his place until he got back to watch over Sara- he finally returned home from running his pack mates and their pups home and dismissed his other beta's.

Shortly thereafter Rick had fixed Sara a plate and reheated everything while grabbing a nice big glass and pouring it full of milk since he knew it was one of the things that Sara and the pup would need practically several times a day for various health reasons as well a strong bone development.

Once the timer on the microwave sounded, he then quickly collected a fork and knife, just in case. And then grabbed the plate of food and the milk and then headed upstairs to feed his no doubt ravenously hungry female and their pup. Taking the stairs two at a time to reach the upper level of his home that much faster, he had just taken the last stair when he smelled it.

The deliciously wonderful scent of arousal mixed with the soft, sweetly floral smell that was uniquely Sara's own. Tracking the scent to her room, where he found the blasted woman curled up asleep on the bed.

Carefully setting the plate and glass down along with the silver and stealthily followed the scent of her into the bathroom where he found a pair of her new panties in the hamper and pulled them out so that he could smell them more.

Holding the pale turquoise silk up to his nose, he inhaled deeply before shifting them around so that he could see the inside of the crotch area. It was damp. And smelled mouthwatering. So much so that he found himself licking the cotton padded area, tasting the dampness that Sara's body had left behind on his tongue before he even realized what he was doing and stopped himself.

The last thing that he was sure Sara needed or wanted right this moment was for him to be licking her panties and getting himself caught by her and unnerving her more than he already did. So instead of continuing what he was doing, he simply pocketed the silk while he still had the taste of her honeyed sweetness on his tongue and slipped out of the bathroom to go wake her.

Once by her bedside, he settled himself on the edge of the mattress and reached out and very gently shook her awake. Sara started and sat upright faster than he could blink and had him pulled down across her lap with her fingers around his throat, squeezing threateningly.

Rick lay there for a moment thinking to himself, that she had a very strange way of waking up. And he had never been more aroused by a female before in his life.

Was it weird that he wanted her to choke him a little bit more? Or maybe that he felt as if he should ask her if she'd let him stroke his cock until he came? Just once to relieve _some_ of the ache.

He watched her face for those precarious moments, searching for any change in awareness and damn near whined in protest when she finally released his throat from her incredibly strong grip- seriously, he was tempted to ask his female if she did special muscle training. She had a grip that was like a steel vice.

Not that he minded in the least. He didn't care if she somehow managed to leave bruises. He just wanted her to _touch_ him with a single mindedness that bordered on desperation though he refused to push her into something that she didn't feel ready for.

Carol and Daryl had told him before leaving that they had gone to check up on her and nearly found her upset and almost in tears. He'd been concerned upon hearing this, but not so much that he would intrude on her if she needed a little quiet time to herself.

He could at least give her some space when she asked him too.

"Have a nice doze?" He asked lazily as she rubbed at her eyes in an almost comical fashion. As if she didn't really believe that he was there.

"I was till you woke me. What are you doing draped across my lap in such a weird way?" She asked with a small frown, causing his eyebrows to disappear underneath his bangs as he stared at her in mild surprise.

So she didn't seem aware of what she had done. That was odd. But he wasn't about to clue her in if it meant that it might happen again. Call him crazy but having his female take him by the throat like she had was a major turn on for him and he didn't want that feeling to stop or go away.

Hell he didn't want _her_ to stop taking him by the throat period since it was an action that only one's mate should do. It was usually used when a mate stepped out of line, as a warning. But it was useful for other things too.

He made a humming sound for a second and then asked if she was hungry again, earning him a small smile and a nod. Pushing himself up off of her lap Rick carefully maneuvered himself off of her so that he could fetch her food and the glass of milk for her.

Picking them up, he brought the plate over to her and handed it to her slowly, just in case she was still drowsy or something, and watched as she took the plate from him while he set the glass of milk down on the bedside table so that she'd be able to reach it easily and then handed her the fork and knife. She smiled at him as she took them and then set the plate in her lap and slowly started to eat.

Despite the slowness of her actions, she somehow managed to eat everything and even lick the plate clean. Amusing him enough to make him chuckle as he watched her drag her pink little tongue across the surface of the glass. Cleaning it of any and all traces leftover from her meal before finally setting it down with a sigh.

"Thanks. That was good."

Rick hummed again before saying, "You're welcome. Now drink your milk. You barely touched it." She glanced over to the glass and then reached over and picked it up and put it to her lips and began drinking it when Rick suddenly decided to finally ask her about what Abraham had done/said to cause her to beat the crap out of him. "What did Abraham do to upset you?"

The sudden question must have caught her by surprise, because one second she was fine and the next he was by her side thumping her on the back and taking the glass from her grasp before she could drop it and spill what was left of it everywhere. She gave a few more coughs before finally settling down and taking several big gulps of air before saying in a rough, raspy tone. " _Ow._ Okay that hurt. What was the question again?"

"What did Abraham do earlier, to upset you?"

"You mean when he was leaning across my back with his hand on me telling me? Or the part where he said he wondered if it was as tight or loose as my-" She cleared her throat to indicate what Abraham had mentioned and shifted uneasily under the weight of his stare.

His eyes...

His normally calm looking eyes were suddenly alight with fury and rage. And though it wasn't directed at her, it still made her slightly uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry that he did and said that to you," Rick said as he set the glass of milk aside and was suddenly up in her personal space, his warm breath ghosting over her face as he said, "That may not have happened if I had laid a claim mark on you. I will deal with Abraham so that he does not act out again. Until then, show me where he touched you."

Sara turned a lovely shade of pink as he grasped her by the hips and yanked her so that she was lying flat on her back under him as she sputtered.

"H-Hey! What are you-" She started to ask when he leaned his head down and took her lips with his own again, temporarily silencing her as he explored her mouth with his tongue for several heartbeats before finally lifting his head.

"Tell me where he touched you," He said again before shifting his body so that he was partially looming over her, propped up on one arm while he slipped his fingers underneath the hem of her shirt and lifted it until he had exposed her stomach a little bit and just laid his hand there for a second before asking, "Was it here? Was this where he touched you? Or was it lower?" She merely shook her head no.

Sara bit her lower lip as she felt his fingers skim over her pants, dangerously close to her core and nearly jumped when he gently squeezed her inner thigh, eliciting a soft gasp from her and growled out. "Here?"

She shook her head no as she felt her eyes start to burn. She didn't understand why he wanted to know or why it even mattered. Much less what he was going to do to her once he found out.

He must have realized this because he leaned his head down and kissed the corner of her mouth as he removed his hand from her inner thigh and used it to wipe at the tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. "Shh. Sara, you aren't in trouble. You did nothing wrong here. I just need to know so that I can gauge how bad Abraham's punishment should be." He said gently, despite the growl still being evident in his tone.

"M-My butt. He touched me there."

"Which side?"

"L-Left." No sooner than she had said the word than he had her flipped over onto her stomach so quickly that her head spun, and his weight came down on her a little bit more as he lightly touched her ass inbetween soft growls and laying kisses on her cheek, temple, the side of her throat received a lot of nice attention that almost had her squirming.

Then suddenly he stopped and his weight went missing from her. And she barely managed to catch sight of him sitting on the edge of her mattress watching her before he said, "You're still tired. Finish your milk up and then lay back down and sleep some more. I've got some pack business to take care of." And then he was up and gone.

Leaving her just embarrassed enough to flop down on her stomach and whimper into her pillow.


	9. Chapter 9

The moment that Rick was downstairs, he slid to a stop so quickly that he actually managed to trip a little bit over his own feet and damn near fall before righting himself. His mind was awhirl with all kinds of thoughts. Most of which centered around, _Too much, too much, too much._

Too much arousal.

Too much desire.

Too much need.

 _Too much touching and kissing._

His female didn't know him any yet. And his continuous need to lay his hands on her gorgeous body and show her _exactly_ how an natural born Alpha, worshipped their female- was pushing things much too far and much too fast. The last thing that he wanted or needed was her pushing him away out of fear or concern for her safety or that of their pup.

Or worse, attempting to escape him and running into trouble.

Because he wasn't going to lie, as one of the more respectable Alpha's in the community; he had made more than his fair share of enemies. All of which would love nothing more than to hurt him by using someone close to him. His pack mates. Or even Sara and their pup. Any of them would provide an opportunity to destroy him.

Because losing even one of any or them was like losing an essential part of himself.

Scrubbing his hands over his face, he felt a few moments of panic over what he had just done to Sara and idly wondered if he should go back up and apologize, but after a moment or so decided to let her cool down first just in case he had upset her.

Though from the way that she had acted, and smelled she had been both embarrassed and a little bit aroused by him. However he had also caught the faintest traces of fear wafting from her as well, souring her sweet scent ever so slightly. Which was just another reason why he had pulled back and left her.

After all, it wasn't as if he had intentionally set out to arouse her and leave her hanging. That was just plain cruel, and though he could take it, he wasn't sure how a hormonal human female would.

Though if at any time she felt like jumping his bones any- well, he wouldn't and couldn't exactly say no. But he'd at least make sure that it was what she absolutely wanted before he laid a hand on her in such a way.

After all, he didn't want to fuck things up and ruin any potential for an actual relationship with his female like his father before him.

That had ended...beyond tragically for his poor late mother. Mostly because his father for a majority of their mated life had been a sleaze. The kind that Rick lived to see rot in jail cells.

His father had run into his mother on the street and had taken one look at her and decided that she was his. He had followed her home from the diner where she worked after school on the weekends and broken into her home and raped her after killing her mother, two siblings- and left her father just alive enough to slowly choke to death on his own blood as he watched his little girl being violated.

He had systematically abused, broken down, and then finally driven his own mate to take her own life just to escape him around the time that Rick had been seven or eight.

He could still recall laying next to his new born sibling, a little sister, cooing and purring at the little one while he'd had no choice but to listen to his father's grunts of pleasure while his mother had sobbed and pleaded for him to stop. Shortly after his father had finished with her, he had staggered out of the house and disappeared.

During which time Rick recalled seeing his mom attempting to make her way into the bathroom at the end of the hall, he'd caught a brief glimpse of her pale, beaten and tear stained face through her messy light brown hair as she had looked at him for a moment and attempted to reassure him that everything would be fine with a small smile.

Rick had merely nodded his head and wandered off to fix his little sister a bottle in the hopes that once his mother had her bath she would be a little bit more composed and feeling like herself.

Instead, he'd lost track of time between feeding his sister and burping her and then changing his shirt because she had spit up on it. By the time he had finished with all of that and gone to check on his mom, he'd slipped into the bathroom to find her laying at the bottom of the tub. Seemingly floating there in crimson water.

He'd tried to pull her out. But even if he had managed, she had no heartbeat. No breath.

He had upon realizing that he couldn't pull her out, instead climbed into the tub and lifted her up so that she was leaning back against his chest, and began keening in distress.

It took his father well until the early morning hours to finally return. And he'd been sitting in the bloody water with his mother's body for _hours_ before his father finally came home and found them.

Rick could recall vividly just how much anger and hatred he held for his father by the time he had finally shown up and found his mate dead. He had witnessed the man unravel as if the very world itself had just ended. Sitting on his knees clutching his mate's stiff body in his arms, rocking back and forth as he cried big fat crocodile tears.

Rick may have been nothing but a pup at the time, but he'd finally really seen his father for the monster that he was. And he had vowed to his late mother that he would take care of his sister, and become a much better Alpha than his father could ever hope to be.

So far- he had yet to break that vow. And given how easily he caved to Sara's fear and other emotions, he probably wouldn't ever break it. _Thank god._

Sighing, he scrubbed his face with his hands again to jolt himself out of his memories and dug his hand into his pants pocket and pulled out his cell phone and flipped it open and speed dialed Glen and Michonne's number's. Both conversations were brief, mostly consisting of him asking if they would grab a couple of pizza's and come babysit Sara for a little bit for him.

After gaining confirmation that they would both be over in thirty minutes, he hung up the phone and then sat down to wait. Once he was sure that Sara wouldn't be alone in the house, he'd run to Abrahams and deal with the bastard for touching what was his.


	10. Chapter 10

Abraham hit a heavy solid wood shelf with glass knick knacks on it, hard, the sound of him wheezing for air as he fell to the floor amongst the shattered and broken glass, after Rick had punched him and then thrown him hard across the room, was the only sound their the two men could make out.

Aside from Abraham's pained groaning as he slowly tried to get up off of the floor and face his pack leader, that is. Rick however merely snorted, his neon blue eyes glittered coldly as he stared at his pack mate and moved around where he was located so that he could pick up the pristine white dish towel lying on the male's counter to wipe his bruised and bloody knuckles as best as he could.

After all, he didn't want Sara upset if she should see just how badly he'd mangled his hands on the ginger's face. And he wasn't going to lie to the gal either if she should ask him what had happened. He would tell her what he had done to the male, how he had defended her against him and punished him, despite knowing that she could kick the male's ass royally herself.

Abraham took almost ten minutes to finally push himself up onto his knees and looked at his Alpha though one, blurry and half swollen eye. His face was a strange multitude of colorerful bruises and bloody cuts and gnashes. His other eyes was already swollen shut completely, and his mouth looked as if Rick had forced him to eat broken glass.

His lips were split in different places and blood was freely running down his chin and neck as Rick finally set the towel aside and took a deep breath to calm himself before finally saying softly,

"Have you learned your lesson about touching Sara, Abraham?"

The man grimaced a bit, but managed a weak sounding 'yeh' as Rick moved over to kneel in front of him and take a close look at his injuries. Trying to gauge weather or not he needed to take the man to the hospital to have him checked out as he asked in an almost pained tone, "Why did you touch her Abraham? I know that you were raised traditional, but she's our pack's alpha female now- _you should know better_ \- Did you think you could get away with it? That I would let you demean her in such a way?"

"T-Tried to see how she'd react..." Abraham said as Rick suddenly, and slowly reached out and cupped his injured face gently in his hands, his blue eyes questioning for a moment as he searched the other man's gaze before realizing what the man had done.

He hadn't been trying to be an asshole to his Sara. He'd merely been testing her to make sure that she was good enough to stand by Rick's side.

The fact that he'd been testing her, sent a small thrill through Rick as his eyes seemed to glow just a little bit brighter. The color changing from neon to a strange blue-ish white as Rick growled out, _"And what did you learn?"_

If a traditionalist like Abraham felt that Sara was good enough to be the pack's alpha female, then Rick would tend to the male's wounds himself before going home to her.

Abraham grinned at him despite the pain in his mouth and jaw and nodded his head ever so slightly as if to say, ' _She did more than I expected, I would be happy to call her my alpha female.'_

Rick let out a small growling purr and released the ginger to go and get his some ice, a wet towel and pain killers. He'd call Shane or someone else to swing by Abraham's place later once he was asleep to check on him and make sure that he didn't need to go to see a doctor.

* * *

Sara wasn't sure how long she lay on her bed feeling as though she had been pulled as taunt as a bow string. And had apparently been about to snap when Rick had suddenly left her hanging. She was still a little bit in disbelief about that. She didn't understand why he had done what he had done and then left, but to her, the fact that she had been left laying there wet and aching- seemed almost like he was punishing her for something.

Which was confusing since she hadn't actually done _anything_ to deserve being punished.

And she would be giving him a piece of her mind for his actions _...later_. But for now she needed to get the hell out of the bedroom. Just laying there and staring at the walls wasn't going to solve any of her problems.

Not only that, but she was kind of hungry again too. Go figure.

Rolling herself out of bed, she went and used the bathroom real quick and then flushed the toilet and washed her hands and then once she finished up in there, made a beeline for the bedroom door. The second that she was out in the hall, she could hear muffled talking coming from downstairs.

Making her down the stairs one at a time, she was sort of slowly dragging her feet- worried about what she may do or say if she came face to face with Rick quite so soon.

So it was a little bit of a surprise when she finally reached the bottom step and instead of Rick, there was two of his beta's that she had met earlier. The Korean guy, Glen and the African American woman, Michonne.

Glen had a plate piled high with seven slices of pizza and was in the midst of walking across the room from the kitchen, while taking a bite of one of his piping hot pizza slices when he noticed her and automatically spat out what was in his mouth with a slightly panicked look on his face as he said in a squeaky tone, "Alpha Sara! I am so sorry- we know that we shouldn't eat before you have gotten yourself some food too but-"

Sara put a hand up and he automatically clammed up as Michonne hung back and casually observed them from the kitchen.

"Please, just call me Sara. Being called Alpha is more than a little bit...uncomfortable for me."

"O-Oh. Sorry." Glen said looking down at his plate with a small frown. His mind searching for some way to put his Alpha's female a little more at ease when she suddenly asked,

"Is there anymore pizza left?" His head snapped up and he smiled at her and quickly replied, "Yes! We have five more. We didn't know what you'd like when Rick told us to grab some, so we sort of got a little bit of everything. So what kind of pizza do you usually like? For future reference." Glen asked excitedly as Sara started towards the kitchen with him following close behind.

"Let's see, my favorite is a extra sausage, ham, extra bacon, onion and extra cheese. My second favorite is alfredo because it's easier on my stomach when I'm feeling sick. My third favorite is plain cheese pizza. But I also like ham and pineapple, depending on how my day goes and if I'm too tired to fix myself anything."

"All of which are excellent choices. And some of which we happen to have. Come one, let's get hooked you up." Michonne finally spoke up and said as she got a plate out of the cabinet and set it on the counter as Glen said,

"We have movies too! All kinds of comedy and horror if you wanna join us in watching some until Rick gets back."

And both grinned at the way Sara's eye's lit up at the prospect of dinner and a movie.

* * *

By the time Abraham was finally stretched out on his couch, snoring- Rick decided that he had spent enough time tending to the male and he should be getting home. He'd already texted someone to drop in and check on Abraham in a little while. Worse case scenario was that the man got a roommate for several days until he felt better.

And Rick would hear an endless amount of bitching from both Abraham himself on the subject, as well as the unlucky SOB that wound up having to stay with him.

Hell the last time he'd had to punish the man like this, he'd wound up with a broken leg some broken fingers and a little bit of internal bleeding. And the entire time that one of the other's was staying with him, Rick's cell phone got repeatedly blown up by the endless stream of calls and texts.

Of course Rick tended to ignore such things unless they were warnings or the messages were in some way life threatening to one or more of his pack.

He, himself got the occasion death threat from Shane or Daryl- depending on how frustrated and angry the men was by something Rick did or didn't do. Though for the most part all of his pack- with the exception of Andrea- were fairly well behaved.

He walked the half block from Abraham's home back to his own, feeling more than a little bit anxious to finally get home and check up on Sara and see what she was doing. He tried texting Glen a few times to ask him what she was doing, but the male never fucking replied.

So either he was being ignored- which wasn't likely since Glen was one of the more obedient guys in his pack- or the little freak had forgotten to either charge, or grab his cell from home before he had left.

So instead he tried texting Michonne. And got a small text back in reply.

 ** _Eating pizza and watching movies- can't type._**

Which earned a snort from Rick as he wondered who had typed the message for her if she was a bit busy eating and watching movies. Nervous to get back to his female and pup, Rick walked a little bit faster. And then after a minute or so started jogging. After which he started flat out running so that he could reach home that much faster.

A few minutes later, he bounded up the steps of his wrap around porch and grabbed the door knob and twisted it open as he shouldered his way through the door.

There, sitting in various positions on his couch was Michonne, Gleen and Sara. All three had plates of pizza or were in the process of finishing their pizza off while on his 52 inch flat screen TV he could plainly see one of the Resident Evil movies playing.

It was either the second or the third one, he wasn't entirely sure which. His mind was a little bit too preoccupied by the sight before him. Seeing his Sara like this, content and socializing with his pack mate, filled him with a strangely warm and fuzzy feeling.

Quietly closing the door behind him, he noted that Michonne was already aware of him being there. No amount of quiet door closing could seem to throw her off of his movements, she always seemed to know.

And no sooner had he closed the door, did he hear her say- "Pizza's in the kitchen if your hungry. Better grab what you can before Glen and Sara get to it." Earning a pair of mock glares from the two before they said in unison,

"Hey!"

Rick snorted again and slowly shook his head as he made his way to the kitchen to do just that. There was no way that he was going to face Sara on an empty stomach.


	11. Chapter 11

While Rick was in the kitchen fixing himself something to eat, Glen and Michonne both exchanged a look and then quickly and quietly stood up and moved towards the door. Drawing Sara's temporarily attention away from the movie as they slipped out of the door and silently closed it behind them as Rick finally realized that they had left him alone with his female, whom he wasn't exactly sure how to face just yet.

Going to the door, he twisted the knob and stuck his head outside and shouted, "You wussies!" at the two, who didn't even react to his words though he knew for sure that they had heard him.

He could hear Michonne's faint laughter as she made a beeline for her home.

Glen however, was laughing silently as he disappeared into his own home and out of sight. _The traitors._ Rick thought to himself as he moved to close the door and almost jumped out of his skin and screamed when he found his female standing right behind him.

"Don't do that." He chided softly as he tried to calm his racing pulse.

"We..."

"Should talk, yeah. I know." Rick said as his neon blue eyes flickered to her face for a moment before he then looked away from her and motioned with a hand for her to go ahead and sit back down on the couch. She seemed hesitant, but did as he bid after a moment or so.

Allowing him the few seconds that he needed to collect his thoughts, and turn off the TV and rejoin her on the couch. Turning himself partially her way so that he was facing her, he rested an elbow over the back of the seat and waited for a moment for her to get comfortable before asking, "Did you want to speak about what happened earlier? With Abraham? Because I've already taken care of disciplining him for what he did. Or did you want to talk about what happened after that?"

"After."

"Hn. Okay."

Sara looked down at her hands for a moment and frowned slightly before asking, "W-Why did you do what you did when you found out about-"

"You mean when I found out about how Abraham _touched_ you?" Rick asked for clarification. Sara nodded her head slightly and he found himself watching the motion with a hungry gaze.

Why _oh why_ , was it so hard to keep his hands to himself? He wondered as his palms started to itch to smooth some of her hair back from her face.

"To put it rather bluntly, I was...uh-" Rick paused for a moment to try a nd figure out how best to put what he said next and help her to understand a little bit better. "More or less staking my claim on you. You see what Abraham did early was overstepping. He knows that you carry my pup, that I'm drawn to you and desire you. And that I have named you as my Alpha female, the only other person in the pack that has just as much power as myself. All of these are ways to stake a claim, however earlier when I put my hands on you...as much as I was staking a claim on you- I also had some trouble tearing myself away from you because of your reaction to my touch."

Sara stiffened ever so slightly and blushed a fetching pink color as she stammered out, "W-Was it that bad?" She didn't really know what exactly he was speaking of. Sure she had been both scared and somewhat aroused by what he had done, but she hadn't meant to be.

Thinking about it now, was sort of mortifying in and of itself.

Rick didn't say anything for a good long while. He seemed to be sorting through something in his head. Maybe trying not to say or do anything that would offend her delicate sensibilities since she was human. She didn't really know, but his silence was making her a tad bit uncomfortable.

Then finally after so long he managed to say, "It wasn't bad per se. Merely... _overwhelming_. The sight, scent and even the very taste of your skin on my tongue... All of it was dangerously overwhelming. You have no idea how close you came to-" He suddenly shut up and thinned his lips in displeasure for a moment as she tried to mentally fill in the blanks that he refused to fill in for her.

He'd wanted to fuck her. Well no- that was perhaps a mite too crude a description for what he wanted. He'd wanted to mate her, and had pulled away before he could do so without her permission. Which was somewhat strange for an Alpha.

Despite being born one of the Alpha sub species, Rick seemed to lack much of the _arrogance_ and _aggression_ that most other natural born Alpha's had. And had somehow struck a natural balance between instinct and precise and carefully calculated action.

Everything that he did, when it came to her, up until now had been _extremely_ well thought out. And carried out with incredibly careful precision. Eerily so. All so that he didn't wind up harming her. Alpha's as a general rule, weren't so incredibly... _careful_? Kind? Thoughtful? Compassionate? She wasn't sure which word really suited him best.

Though all of them described some aspect of his personality that she was beginning to respect. And if she could respect that about him, then trust wasn't too far behind.

Which made her next words, while not entirely thought out, easy to say. Mainly because she felt no ill disguised feelings of dread or doubt even as the words left her lips. "You mentioned before that you hadn't laid a claim mark on me..." Rick's neon eyes flashed nearly to pure white as a low rumbling sound escaped his throat at the same time she managed to say, "I want you to mark me."

And before she even realized what he was doing, much less how quickly he would respond to her words- he had come up off of the couch, scooped her up in his arms and was upstairs so quickly that her head spun. She was even so dizzy that she never even realized that he'd laid her down on _his_ bed until he was on top of her, kissing her breathless.


	12. Chapter 12

The claim marking went far better than Rick had initially thought that it would given the fact that he hadn't exactly explained to Sara just _how_ that it was done.

No instead he'd simply chosen to remain quiet and led her to where he needed her to be- not for deceptive reasons, mind you- but simply so that if she decided to rescind the words or told him 'no' or 'stop' then he could do so and she wouldn't have to feel any guilt about it later on.

However what had pleasantly surprised him was just how receptive she was to being claim marked- especially given the certain lack of information. After all it wasn't exactly a noticeably physical marking. It sometimes required blood- if the female was untouched by a male. And from the male, it required his seed.

The reasons for this were more often than not, more than just a little bit difficult to really explain to someone who was born as a human.

But to sum things up, it had a lot to do with mingled scents and such. The only real parallel that Rick could think of to even kind of explain such an intimate act, was something along the lines of how dogs marked their territory.

Alpha's tended to do the same.

Only in a much more flattering and slightly less messy way that didn't involve urination.

And yet Sara had followed his lead with shy, sweet, honeyed kisses and virginal hesitance that he'd found so thoroughly endearing that he had done his absolute best to attend to her needs and desires _repeatedly_ , long before he ever bothered to see to his own.

True, he had shed her virgin blood.

It was somewhat regrettable, but simply couldn't have been helped.

Yet he had held her in his arms as he had patiently, and tenderly claimed her body. Had licked, kissed, suckled the tender flesh of her throat, shoulders and breasts and everywhere else that he could reach until she had keened and sobbed and whined for completion.

Then and only then had he reached his own climax.

The feel of her body milking him of every little bit of seed that his body had to offer had been beyond _extraordinary_. And when he had finally finished cumming inside of her, he had slowly, _oh-so-painstakingly_ slowly- withdrawn from her body so as not to cause her any more pain or discomfort than he already had. And had lain himself on the bed next to her and gathered her body in his arms and shifted her so that she was held against him, with one of his legs between her knees.

He'd dozed off for a little while, an hour, maybe two. After which he had awoken and carefully extracted himself from his snuggle buddy and then rolled out of bed and redressed himself in his jeans and with one last look at Sara had left the room to go and fix something for the both of them to eat for dinner since he didn't doubt that she would be famished by the time she woke up.

That had been two in a half hours ago, and while she still slept- he knew that she would be awakening soon.

Until then though, he didn't mind standing there in the door watching her. In fact he rather enjoyed it. Given how overly much she must have been drained from the claim marking.

He'd already finished up cooking their dinner, and was more than pleased to say that he'd sort of gone all out for her again.

He'd fixed buttermilk breaded fried chicken thighs, some creamy macaroni salad (the kind that she liked- the nice boxed kind with elbow macaroni and peas and some sort of flavor pouch) home made mashed potato's with a side of gravy, some beans- which were more for him than her due to the fact that she got sick around them- and some fried tomato's, and onion rings.

Now that he'd finished all of that was had set some aside for her to eat once she finally decided to stir, he found himself standing in the doorway to his slightly darkening bedroom, his neon eyes glowed softly in the slowly dimming light; he drank in the sight of her lying on her back with the covers tangled around her hips and her long slender legs. Her bare breasts rising and falling subtly with each breath.

Her long strawberry blond hair was tangled around her face and shoulders. And he could already see the markings that had been left behind on her flesh by his fingertips and mouth.

They looked a little bit like bruises. Which was a little bit... _horrifying_ to him. But not so much so that he felt the need to rush over and drop to his knees and lick and kiss the darkened patches of skin in an effort to apologize.

Moving away from the doorframe, Rick walked silently into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed facing Sara, and absently reached out to gently trail the back of his index finger along the curve of her cheek, drawing a small moan from her slightly abused throat since the sound was a tad bit rougher than it should have been.

Lips quirking in amusement, he leaned over her and pressed his lips against her cheek. Eliciting another low moan as Sara stirred a little bit. A frown crossing her face as she tried to move away from him.

Laughing softly at her antics, he then grabbed the sheets and slowly dragged them away from her naked body as he said between rumbles of laughter, "Now, now, sweetheart. I know that you're probably sleepy still, but you haven't eaten dinner just yet and you need to get up. Especially since you and the pup must be pretty close to starving by now."

She gave one last escape from him a try and then heaved a heavy sigh and cracked one eye open and glared at him for a second before her stomach growled.

Seemingly embarrassing her if the stiffness of her spine and the softly rose colored hue in her pale cheeks were any indication at all as Rick slowly got up and moved away from the bed for a second so that he could collect her panties, and bra and handed them to her before he then walked into the bathroom and grabbed a clean rag and wet it with warm water and carefully wrung it out and then moved back to the bedroom and stopped her from pulling her panties up into place on her hips by pressing the wet rag carefully against her mons.

"Stay still. I need to clean you off here otherwise you'll get an infection." Rick said as he carefully wiped away some of the blood staining the inside of her thighs, his neon eyes flickering off and on from his task to her face. Noting the occasional wince or grimace that he got when he brushed up against something particularly sensitive.

"You feeling okay?" He asked once he was finished and moved away from her to put the rag in the hamper.

"I'm fine. Just...really sore at the moment."

"Oh...sorry about that." Rick said looking down for a moment as embarrassment flooded him.

Sara hummed and reached out and took one of his hands in hers, drawing his attention away from the floor and back to her face as she crossed the short distance between them and kissed him on the cheek. Her arms going around his neck, her long slender fingers playing his dark wavy hair, eliciting a soft growl from him as he wrapped his arms around her slim waist.

"Don't be sorry for something that is beyond your ability to help with," She said as she kissed him again before then saying out of the blue, "Now, is it okay if I steal one of your shirts? I really don't want to get dressed in pants again for a while."

He made a funny sound, almost half snort, half snicker and then pressed a quick kiss to her forehead and then quickly escaped her and somehow managed to find a overly large, long sleeved button down shirt in a similar hue to his eyes and held it out to her.


	13. Chapter 13

Once Sara had pulled his shirt on and buttoned it, she settled herself on the edge of his bed as he pulled on his jeans and zipped them up but didn't bother to re button them before seating himself beside her, knowing that they probably needed to have a talk about what had just happened between them and what it meant. However he doubted that she was wholly prepared for this conversation.

And that was fine. He would be happy with whatever she was comfortable with for the moment, and so decided to simply follow her lead and see where she took them both.

She waited until he was comfortably settled before stammering out, "S-So that was h-how you mark-"

"Our females and mates, yeah. Are you okay with that?" Rick asked curiously as he watched her awkwardly fidget with one of his shirt sleeves as a small frown flitted across her pretty face.

She was silent for several strained heartbeats before slowly saying, "It isn't that I'm one hundred percent okay with it since I barely know you and all," Under normal circumstances Rick would have normally bristled with temper at this point. However given that Sara was human and still kind of feeling things out as far as his temperament, pack dynamics, and customs went- he didn't bother bristling since it would cause her undue stress. Besides, how could he get pissed at her for being honest? "But at the same time, I'm trying to be sensitive to you're own wants, needs, instincts and such. So it's also not like I'm _not_ okay with it either. I just don't really know what to do now."

As soon as her admission left her lips, he felt his eyes glitter neon in the faintly lit room and wondered to himself, how he had gotten to damned lucky. Seriously, she had brains, beauty, was nice, smelled fucking fantastic, and had not only let him mark her- but he was also her first lover.

He hit the goddamned jackpot when she had decided to have his pup. That was for damned sure.

Taking a few moments more to swallow past the sudden lump in his throat, he then said gently. "You carry my mark, my scent, and my pup, Sara. You can do what you want. As long as it isn't something that can endanger you, the pack, or our pup- then I'm good with whatever."

"T-That's not- I mean I don't- What exactly are your expectations here? Because I'm sort of lost." She said after a little bit of floundering.

Rick blinked at her and raised a hand to run it through her sexy tousled hair, simply unable to resist lending her a little bit of comfort before then saying. "I won't lie and say that a relationship of some kind isn't what I would like. In fact it _is_ sort of expected. However I won't force the issue if it makes you uncomfortable in some way. And I won't do or take more than your willing to give. So if you tell me that we're friends only- then that's what we'll be. If you want to try being lovers and seeing what sort of man I am for a little while- we can do that too."

"Just know that such relationships can't be entered into lightly on your end. Especially while your carrying my pup. The reason for this is because you would have to give up a few years of your life to live here so that our pup can have both parents close by, even if we aren't together romantically. Another reason is that I have to make sure that nothing happens to you or the pup since it's my job to take care of you both."

"But again I won't lie and say that I didn't bring you here fully intending to at some point court you and mate you. I'm kind of..."

"A hopeless romantic." Sara supplied helpfully as he tried to think of how best to describe himself when it came to matters of the heart. She must have realized that he was struggling a bit. Either that or she had smelled the smoke coming out of his ears.

He felt his lips quirk slightly in amusement at the words she had chosen and simply nodded his head yes. "Yeah I guess that would be the best way to describe me."

"I see. Makes sense I suppose." Sara said as she thought over all of his behavior thus far.

Even for a shifter, Rick was unusually level headed, kind, thoughtful and compassionate. His instincts had come into play only a few times since her arrival in his home. And while they hadn't exactly been frightening- they were overwhelming to her as a normal human. Which meant that everything- no- _every move_ that he had made from the beginning had been very carefully planned out and executed.

Including his typical everyday behavior as a shifter.

He tended to treat her like spun glass. Like she were so fragile that if he touched her wrong she might shatter into pieces. It was... _weird_ to think too much on. Because she had never been treated in such a way before. Not by a man at least.

Feeling Rick wrap an arm around her and tug her against his side, Sara let out a startled little squeaking sound as she flopped over against him, earning an light hearted, amused chuckle from him as he said, "Yeah, makes sense..." He paused for a moment to think before finally tacking on gently. "A hopeless romantic. That's me. So, do what you want and I'll just follow you're lead cause sweetheart I'm in this for the long haul."

Sara tipped her head back some to look at him, catching the briefest glimpse of eerie, glowing neon blue eyes and the curve of his lips tilting up to reveal a hint of his fangs before he placed a chaste kiss on her forehead and then slipped his arm from around her and removed himself from the bed to finish re dressing as he said, "You don't have to think so hard about it right now Sara. I'm a patient man, so you have more than enough time to consider all of your options. You should lay back down for a little bit- I can tell that you're more tired than you let on. Especially considering everything that's been thrown at you so far today."

"I-" Sara started to tell him that she was fine, but an wave of dizziness suddenly hit her almost making everything in the room spin as she relented and said, "Yeah okay," Before then asking. "Will you stay with me until I manage to fall asleep?"

The question must have caught him off guard. Because he turned his head to look at her so damn fast that she heard his neck snap in several places as he studied her face for a moment before merely nodding and moving back over to the bed, crowding her somewhat with his body before she could move back any.

He gave her a moment or so to move away and lay back down before he stretched out on the bed beside her and slipped his arms around her and pulled her as close to him as he dared and simply let his mind drift for a little bit.

He didn't bother getting back up until about eight that evening. He was simply too happy and content in her presence to bother moving.

And from the peaceful way that she was sleeping, Rick would venture to say the same of Sara.


	14. Chapter 14

Sara seemed to take her time thinking about what they spoke of. And during that time she also tested some of Rick's boundaries. Nothing too terribly big or anything. Just small and simple stuff. Which was fine, he didn't mind the fact that she occasionally began napping in his bedroom, in his personal space. Or the fact that some of his shirts turned up missing.

His most colorful and comfortable flannel and button up's seemed to be her favorites.

Hell, about four days after he had marked her, she had cornered him in the kitchen while he had been fixing their breakfast and had asked him in a somewhat shy manner- despite the aggressive way that she had kind of ambushed and cornered him- about shifter courtships.

What was the norm for them? How did a shifter usually court someone that they were interested in.

He understood that she was curious and had questions. So they had sat down and he had explained the whole hunting to prove that he could provide for her, preparing her meals to make sure that she had what she absolutely needed, as well as other customs.

She'd scrunched her nose up a little bit at the whole _hunting-killing_ thing. And had sort of given him examples that he could use in place of those if he absolutely had to prove himself in a courtship. She had even mentioned that while it may be his instinct to do so- human girls didn't always appreciate dead things being dropped at their feet.

He could just as easily kill a mouse, a snake or a spider and be seen as a great protector in her eyes.

Which of course, was an interesting concept to him. So much so that he'd had her write down some stuff to share with his fellow shifters. Daryl, Glenn, and even Abraham sometimes had trouble courting gals, so any info that he could get that may help his fellow packmates out was _sooo_ greatly appreciated.

Especially since Shane probably already knew this shit and wasn't telling anyone. The dirty dog.

The preparing her meal's thing, she was a tad bit more understanding about. He knew the needs of their pup far better than she. So there was no problems there. Although she did admit that at some point she wanted to try cooking for him and the rest of the pack.

He had no problem with that, truth be told. To him her desire to provide was similar to his own. He merely grinned and nodded and then asked a few questions of his own once they were done talking about his version of a courtship so that he could figure out what she expected from one.

Dates were a thing. Which wasn't all that surprising to him. In fact he was somewhat delighted at the prospect of maybe wining and dining her. In fact, in his head he'd already planned out at least their first three dates.

Where they would go. What they would do.

Even if they didn't leave his home because she didn't feel up to it, he had plans for those days too. They mostly consisted of board games and some horror films that might make her jump and latch onto him. But whatever.

Flowers were also an expectation of hers. She specified that they didn't have to be expensive or even in a bouquet, she'd be happy with the occasional one here and there if he didn't mind. And to be honest, he didn't. In fact he even went the extra mile to learn her favorite flowers and colors.

She was a big fan of tiger lilies, it didn't matter the color. Though her favorites were either pink, blue or white. She also liked peonies, sunflowers and tulips. She didn't mind roses all that much if he wanted to get her some, but she preferred daisies to them any day of the week.

She also liked books, and had a few crafting hobbies such as jewelry making, scented soap, lotion, and perfume making, flower arranging ext. He didn't mind the jewelry making and flower arranging and even made a mental note to figure out what sort of stuff she usually worked with so that he could get her some stuff to keep her busy when she was feeling bored.

But the scented soaps, lotions, and perfume making would have to wait until he could rope Daryl and Shane and Glenn into helping him build a place for her to work somewhere outside. But then again the only real problem that he had there was that she couldn't work with any weird chemicals while she was pregnant.

He didn't want her to accidentally ingest anything that could be poisonous. He also didn't want her exposed to any overwhelming scents since it would make her ill.

She mentioned wanting to get to know his pack a little bit better- maybe have a picnic or movie day with everyone where they could either get out and get some sun for a little while or simply sit around and watch movies and eat an ungodly amount of pizza or KFC chicken or something.

She didn't really care which.

Rick listened to her speak intently, his chin propped up in his palm as she spoke of what she wanted before timidly admitting that she didn't quite know how to go about things and didn't want to offend or step on anyone's toes. He merely grinned at her and leaned over and kissed her forehead before telling her again to do what she liked.

He would back her one hundred percent and so would everyone else.

* * *

The next morning Rick woke up to the sounds of Dale's, Daryl's and Abraham's voices mixed with Sara's own, coming from somewhere outside in the yard, and decided to roll out of bed to go and investigate just in case. Snagging the closest, cleanest pieces of clothing that he could find lying on his floor, he quickly pulled everything on and then bounded out of the bedroom door and down the stairs and made a beeline- bypassing a somewhat startled looking Lori and Maggie using his kitchen island as their own little café while the food they had started to fix sat on the stove cooking- and quickly slipped outside to see what was going on.

What he found wasn't expected.

Then again he wasn't exactly sure _what_ he had been expecting. All he knew was that this wasn't it.

First off, Daryl and Abraham were both doubled over practically howling with laughter while poor Dale was biting the inside of his cheek to suppress his mirth at whatever it was that they had all found so damned hilarious while Sara was sitting on the ground, not too far away, underneath a nice shady tree looking rather...

Uh, _indignant_ at the lot of them?

"Hey! Stop laughing right now! I'm telling you that duct tape and super glue will one day save your life!" She said, causing the two doubled over to simply flop over to the ground and start rolling around holding their stomachs while Dale snorted and snickered a few times before catching sight of him and quickly sobering up and making a weird motion with his hands.

Trying to shut the others up as Rick simply shook his head at them before calling out to his packmates, "Try not to tire Sara out too much. And keep her out of the sun." The reactions from Daryl and Abraham were instant. The two stopped laughing like a couple of hyena's and cast him a quick look from over their shoulders as he turned and disappeared back into the house.


End file.
